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Poll: Bipartisan Support for Free College in States

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A poll conducted after the presidential election on behalf of the Campaign for Free College Tuition found that 88 percent of Clinton voters and 54 percent of Trump voters support state initiatives to make college tuition free.

In states Donald Trump won, the poll found support for state-level tuition-free programs was at 69 percent. It was 78 percent in states that went for Hillary Clinton. Support for free tuition at public institutions for anyone who is academically qualified was 73 percent. The online poll was conducted by Penn Schoen Berland in December. It included 834 participants with a 2.8 percent margin of error.

"The poll indicates making public college tuition free for those academically qualified is embraced across the political spectrum," said Morley Winograd, chief executive officer and president of the campaign, in a news release. "Governors from both red and blue states have released, or enacted, well-received bold plans to make college tuition free. With a college degree or certificate being increasingly necessary for success and the price of tuition rising faster than any other item in a family's budget, I expect others will follow the lead of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo."